Existing unfair competition laws make various unfair competition practices unlawful, including any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business act or practice and unfair, deceptive, untrue, or misleading advertising. Existing law makes it unlawful for any person doing business in California and advertising to consumers in California to make any false or misleading advertising claim. Existing law makes a person who violates specified false advertising provisions liable for a civil penalty, as specified, and provides that a person who violates those false advertising provisions is guilty of a misdemeanor. Existing law makes it unlawful for healing arts licensees, as specified, to disseminate or cause to be disseminated any form of public communication containing a false, fraudulent, misleading, or deceptive statement, claim, or image in order to induce the provision of services or products in connection with their licensed professional practice or business. Existing law makes a violation of these provisions punishable as a misdemeanor and, in the case of a licensed person, provides that a violation constitutes unprofessional conduct and grounds for suspension or revocation of a license by the relevant board. This bill would require a person who creates or causes to be created an advertisement that includes a digital replica or synthetic performer depicted as a health care provider to promote the sale of a health-related consumer product or service to include a clear and conspicuous disclosure that the health care provider depicted in the advertisement was generated or substantially altered by artificial intelligence or that no human health care provider is depicted. The bill would also define terms for its purposes. This bill would provide that a violation of its provisions constitutes a violation of specified unfair competition and false advertising laws. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also authorize a natural person whose digital replica is used in an advertisement to bring a civil action to enforce these provisions. The bill would specify that a violation of the bill does not constitute a misdemeanor under provisions regulating healing arts licensees. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the PUC to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. This bill would require the PUC to establish a special rate structure for data centers, as defined, taking transmission level electrical service with an estimated peak demand of at least 75 megawatts of electricity to, among other things, protect other customers of electrical corporations, prohibit cost shifts to those other customers, and require data centers to pay for the electrical corporations' upfront costs of transmission or distribution infrastructure upgrades necessary for the provision of electrical service to the data centers. The bill would require the construction of data centers subject to the special rate structure to comply with certain labor requirements. Existing law establishes the policy of the state that eligible renewable energy resources and zero-carbon resources supply 90% of all retail sales of electricity to California end-use customers by December 31, 2035, 95% by December 31, 2040, and 100% by December 31, 2045. Existing law requires the PUC, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, and the State Air Resources Board, in consultation with all California balancing authorities, to annually issue a joint report related to meeting that state policy. This bill would require that the joint report also includes the impacts of data centers subject to the special rate structure on the state's ability to achieve the above-described state policy. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime. Because the provisions of the bill would be part of the act and a violation of a PUC action implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) , grants to a consumer various rights with respect to personal information that is collected by a business. Existing law, the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA) , an initiative measure approved by the voters as Proposition 24 at the November 3, 2020, statewide general election, amended, added to, and reenacted the CCPA and establishes the California Privacy Protection Agency (agency) and vests the agency with full administrative power, authority, and jurisdiction to enforce the CCPA. Existing law requires a data broker to register with the agency, and defines "data broker" to mean a business that knowingly collects and sells to third parties the personal information of a consumer with whom the business does not have a direct relationship, subject to specified exceptions. This bill would define a "direct relationship" as, among other things, when a consumer has intentionally interacted with a business for the purpose of obtaining information about, accessing, purchasing, using, or requesting the business's products or services. The bill would specify circumstances when a data broker does not have a "direct relationship," including if it sells personal information outside of a "first-party" interaction with the consumer. The bill would define a "first party" as a consumer-facing business with which the consumer intends and expects to interact. Existing law requires a data broker, in registering with the agency, to provide specified information, including, among other things, whether the data broker collects the personal information of minors or a consumer's reproductive health care data. Existing law requires the agency to establish an accessible deletion mechanism that, among other things, allows a consumer to request that a specified data broker delete any personal information related to that consumer held by the data broker or associated service provider or contractor. This bill would require a data broker to provide additional information to the agency regarding whether the data broker sells inferences about the attributes of the consumer based on their analysis of specified data, including the personal information of minors and a consumer's reproductive health care data. Existing law establishes the Office of Data and Innovation (office) within the Government Operations Agency with a mission to deliver better government services to the people of California through technology and service innovation, data, and design. This bill would require the office to establish a privacy preference tool to enable a consumer to define and store a privacy preference profile regarding data broker data collection and use practices, among other things. The bill would require the tool to, among other things, evaluate relevant privacy, data management, and practice and policies against the consumer's preference profile. The bill would require the office to make the online tool available to other state agencies, including the agency. This bill would declare that its provisions further the purposes and intent of the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020.
Existing law authorizes the California College Guidance Initiative to provide its services to all California school districts, including services that provide pupils and their families with direct access to online tools and resources for college and career planning. Existing law requires a school district, county office of education, or charter school to annually notify the parents or guardians of pupils admitted to, or advancing to, grades 7 to 12, inclusive, of any dual enrollment or International Baccalaureate courses offered by the local educational agency, as provided. This bill would require that notice to also include the benefits of the California College Guidance Initiative and encouragement to create parent accounts. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law establishes the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement within the Department of Industrial Relations to administer and enforce various laws relating to employment and working conditions. This bill would require an employer to provide a written notice to a worker that a workplace AI tool, as defined, was used to assist the employer in making employment-related decisions or to surveil workers in the workplace. The bill would require the notice to be given to a worker within a specified time and would require the notice to contain specified information, including the specific employment-related decisions likely to be affected by the use of the workplace AI tool. The bill would require an employer to maintain an updated list of all workplace AI tools currently in use and their impact on jobs, as specified, and to provide the list to workers annually. The bill would provide for enforcement by the Labor Commissioner or a public prosecutor, and alternatively would authorize any worker who has suffered damages, or their exclusive representative, to file a civil action for damages caused by the adverse action. The bill would establish remedies and penalties for violations, including a penalty of up to $500 for each violation. The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Grant Account in the California Advanced Services Fund and makes the moneys in the account available for grants to eligible consortia to facilitate the deployment of broadband services by assisting infrastructure applicants in the project development or grant application process. Existing law requires each consortium to conduct an annual audit of its expenditures for programs funded pursuant to those provisions and to submit to the commission an annual report that includes specified information. This bill would instead require moneys in the Rural and Urban Regional Broadband Consortia Account to be available for grants to eligible consortia primarily to facilitate the deployment of broadband services by assisting infrastructure applicants in the project development or grant application process. In facilitating the deployment of broadband services, the bill would authorize the consortia to undertake activities that promote broadband adoption within specified areas, including all infrastructure project areas that received California Advanced Services Fund grants on or after January 1, 2020, as specified, neighborhoods and communities identified by jurisdictions receiving local agency technical assistance grants, or areas where construction of infrastructure deployment and upgrade investments are made pursuant to public benefit agreements by parties to corporate consolidations approved by the commission. The bill would require the commission to allocate sufficient funds to the account to provide multi-year grants to eligible consortia to engage and regularly convene specified representatives and to implement an approved regional work plan consistent with a standardized scope of work determined by the commission, which would be required to include specified strategies and infrastructure-related activities, as provided. The bill would require the annual base funding grant per consortium to be no less than $200,000, plus an increased amount based on the number of unserved and underserved locations, unconnected households, and the number of low-income households in the region, as provided. The bill would delete the requirement for each consortium to conduct an annual audit and would revise the information required to be included in the annual report to the commission, as specified. The bill would authorize the commission to engage experienced nonprofit organizations through an open, competitive process to assist the commission and support the consortia, as provided. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the above provisions would be part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing this bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Existing law establishes the Office of Data and Innovation within the Government Operations Agency with a mission to deliver better government services to the people of California through technology and service innovation, data, and design. Existing law establishes the Data and Innovation Services Revolving Fund consisting of certain sources of moneys including donations, endowments, or grants of funds from private or public sources that commit to the office's mission of ethical, efficient, effective, secure, and responsible use of data in a manner that respects privacy. Exiting law makes moneys in the fund available upon appropriation of the Legislature, as specified. This bill would establish the Engaged California Program within the office. The bill would require the office to, among other things, design, establish, and maintain a platform for ongoing dialogue between Californians and state government and to establish best practices for its use. Subject to certain conditions, including upon appropriation by the Legislature for the express purpose of running the Engaged California Program, the bill would require topics to be selected for deliberation in accordance with specified procedure and would require state agencies identified by the office to coordinate outreach, among other things. The bill would require the Data and Innovation Services Revolving Fund to consist of supplemental funding for the Engaged California Program from partner organizations. The bill would prohibit organizations that provide that funding from participating in the selection of a topic for deliberation and from participating in the deliberation. The bill would also make any unspent funds appropriated for the Engaged California Program during the 2026–27 fiscal year available for use by that program during the 2027–28 fiscal year.
Existing law, the Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act, prohibits an operator of an addictive internet-based service or application from providing an addictive feed, as defined, to a user unless the operator does not have actual knowledge that the user is a minor, as specified, or the operator has obtained verifiable parental consent to provide an addictive feed to the user who is a minor. Existing law, the Digital Age Assurance Act, beginning January 1, 2027, requires a person who owns, maintains, or controls a software application, as defined, to request age bracket data sent by a real-time secure application programming interface or operating system with respect to a particular user from an operating system provider or a covered application store when the application is downloaded and launched. This bill would prohibit a covered platform, as defined, from providing an addictive feature, as defined, to a user who is under 16 years of age and would require a covered platform to implement reasonable measures to ensure that users under 16 years of age are not offered or provided any addictive feature on the covered platform. The bill would also authorize the Attorney General to adopt regulations to implement and enforce the bill in order to further the purpose of protecting minors online, including by altering the scope of "covered platform" if the Attorney General determines that doing so is necessary to ensure that "covered platform" applies to internet websites, online services, online applications, or mobile applications that make addictive features, as defined, available to users under 16 years of age. This bill would impose a civil penalty upon a noncompliant platform and would require its provisions to be enforced by a civil action brought only by the Attorney General or a local public prosecutor, as specified. This bill would also establish the e-Safety Advisory Commission within the Department of Justice as an independent advisory body that is only for administrative purposes to advise state government on certain matters related to online safety and would require the commission to, on or before January 1 of each year, report to the Legislature and the Governor on, among other things, its activities under the bill.
Existing law requires the Department of Technology to conduct, in coordination with other interagency bodies as it deems appropriate, a comprehensive inventory of all high-risk automated decision systems (ADS) that have been proposed for use, development, or procurement by, or are being used, developed, or procured by, any state agency. Existing law establishes the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, which is composed of various departments responsible for protecting and promoting the rights and interests of workers in California, including the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, led by the Labor Commissioner, within the Department of Industrial Relations. This bill, beginning on July 1, 2027, would prohibit an employer, as defined, from using an ADS to perform certain functions and would limit the purposes for and way in which an ADS may be used. The bill would, when an employer primarily uses an ADS to make a disciplinary or termination decision, authorize an employee to request, and require an employer to provide, a description of the employee's own data primarily used by an ADS to make a disciplinary or termination decision, as specified. The bill would require an employer that primarily relied upon an ADS to make a disciplinary or termination decision to provide the affected employee with a written postuse notice, as specified. This bill would prohibit an employer from discharging, threatening to discharge, demoting, suspending, or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against any employee for taking certain actions asserting their rights under the bill. The bill would authorize the Labor Commissioner to enforce the bill's provisions and also authorize a public prosecutor to bring a civil enforcement action, as specified. The bill would set forth specified types of relief that a plaintiff may seek and specified penalties that an employer that violates these provisions is subject to, including a $500 civil penalty per violation. This bill would also provide that an employer who complies with the requirements related to notice in this bill is not required to comply with any substantially similar provisions under any other state law, except as specified. The bill would not apply to parties covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement if the agreement contains specified information, including an explicit waiver of the bill's provisions. The bill would provide that it does not prohibit the use of an automated decision system relating to the development of aircraft for use in the national airspace or the development of products or services for national security, military, space, or defense purposes, if the use of an automated decision system is reasonably necessary to comply with the federal statute, the federal regulation, or the binding federal contract, as specified. The bill would include a statement that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities. This bill would declare that its provisions are severable.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2027, and before January 1, 2032, allow a credit against those taxes equal to 50% of the cost of a backup electricity generator or solar battery, as specified, by a qualified taxpayer, as defined, for use in a residence or commercial property. The bill would limit the credit to $5,000 per residence or commercial property in the case of the purchase of a backup electricity generator, and to $7,500 in the case of a solar battery. The bill would only apply these provisions in taxable years for which an appropriation is made in the Budget Act or another statute for the purposes of administering the credits. Existing law requires any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure to contain, among other things, specific goals the tax expenditure will achieve, detailed performance indicators, and data collection requirements. This bill would include additional information required for any bill authorizing a new tax expenditure. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
